


Love Like Battleships

by HazelGatoya



Series: Between the Devil and the Digital Sea [2]
Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Being Homura Is Suffering, Being Meguca Is Suffering, Best they can anyways, But not really Madoka because she's only mentioned, Gen, Girls taking care of each other, Grief/Mourning, Look at all these WRAITHS :D, Mami and Kyoko working together, Post-Series Pre-Movie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23090668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazelGatoya/pseuds/HazelGatoya
Summary: Updates will resume in 2022.Kyoko loses someone she considered a friend, and goes back to the master they both shared to deliver the news. The same day, Kyubey delivers some grief cubes and letters from some new rando magical girl named Homura.Life continues, but there's something off about this girl. Like her insistence on boundaries and her apparent dislike of Kyubey. There's also this Madoka god/person/thing she keeps mentioning... As if Kyoko and Mami didn't have enough to worry about with just each other.There's also the wraith problem, but that's just part of the magical girl shtick.
Series: Between the Devil and the Digital Sea [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659613
Comments: 27
Kudos: 48





	1. Back to the Basics

**Author's Note:**

> Updates are going to be sporadic, but hey, I guess I'm here to stay in this fandom. Welcome to the Pre-Rebellion story. :) Hope you enjoy the ride.

Kyoko stood in front of a door she'd never thought she'd see again, taking a breath. It was okay. It was okay. She would just give Mami the news. She would just give Mami the news and it would be... fine. She took another breath, squeezing her eyes shut, then opened them and knocked firmly on the door.

It took a few seconds, during which her heart rate picked up again, and then it swung open, Mami staring almost blankly at her. "O-oh. Kyoko..."

"Hey. I'm not here to fight or anything, I just-" She was interrupted when Mami surged forward, almost knocking her off-balance with her sudden hug. "Ey-!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm just so happy to see you!" Oh no, she was already crying. Oh this wasn't going to go well. Oh dear. "Come in, come in." Mami released her, moving back into the house and wiping at her eyes. "Oh dear, I... I..."

"Easy there, Mami." Kyoko entered the house, closing the door behind her, pressing her lips together. "I'm guessin' it's been a bit of a month for you too."

"Oh, well, that's putting it a bit lightly to be honest." Mami sniffed, moving into the kitchen. "You liked basically anything if I remember correctly... but preferred cinnamon?"

"I ain't gonna refuse good tea and cake, even if it ain't my style."

"Of course, of course, you prefer easier things..." Water began running. "You can sit down and make yourself comfortable. Things have been rough for you, then?"

"Yeah... what was with your vanishing act?" Kyoko asked, settling herself onto one of the cushions around the small glass table, frowning at the windows. "I thought you'd died but your new disciple-"

"You've seen Sayaka?" Mami's head swung back out of the kitchen, her hand grasping the wood of the frame. 

Kyoko took a breath, looked at those frantic golden eyes, and that breath caught in her throat, threatening to choke her. She couldn't- she couldn't-

Mami stared at her, and everything seemed to click, and her hand flew to her mouth. "No. Oh no. She's... she's really gone, isn't she...?"

"I saw her die." Kyoko's voice sounded like shattered glass, and she hated it. "I don't- I don't understand it neither. I remember my pops killing himself and the rest of my family just fine, can't forget it, but all I remember is what she said and her soul gem shattering, and someone... someone dragging me away from the train station and the body." At some point her face had entered her hands. "Because that's all that was left after the soul gem shattered. I don't know- I don't know why I'm so _upset,_ she was an _idiot,_ and she went off on these lofty ideals just like you did, and..."

Mami's voice was quiet when it interrupted. "Breathe, Kyoko."

And Kyoko did, managing to take in a shuddering breath, and look up at the older girl. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her hand was curled into a fist near her chin, but she seemed calm enough. Calmer than Kyoko for sure. But then, she always had been. "S-Sorry." She exhaled. "That's why I came. She adored you, and now that you're back..."

"You wanted me to know so I wasn't wasting time looking for her. I appreciate it." Mami sniffed again. "I know you've never found my viewpoint... well. But it's hard not to like Sayaka. She... she was so full of life, so headstrong, just like you. Do- do you know _why_ she died?"

Kyoko sighed, looking down at the table again. "Stress, sounded like. You know how our soul gems darken and Kyubey was never real specific on what would happen if they got real bad, just said that the effects would also be real bad?"

"...I see. So that's what happens." Mami moved again, footsteps retreating to the kitchen. "I didn't want to leave her, but I think I was... I don't know what _happened_. I don't think I should be alive. I just remember endless wandering through a wasteland. I was so startled when I saw what the date was once I got out..."

"Jeez, Mami." Kyoko looked up from the table, staring towards the kitchen. "I knew you were a survivor, but that's insane."

"I did wish not to die alone." Mami sighed. "A foolish wish, now that I think about it. It's small wonder everyone keeps leaving me, whether it be by death or just because... we split up."

"Workin' together with other magical girls is a bad idea and you know it. There are only so many grief cubes we can all get and-" 

_Mami, Kyoko, could one of you open the door, please?_

"Kyubey!" Mami gasped, rushing for the door, almost tripping over her feet. Kyoko's could blame her, she too had gotten to her feet and was staring at the door. She hadn't seen Kyubey in ages, the little fluffbutt usually stuck around in this part of the city and had talked to Sayaka a lot in _private._ He was most often somewhere else, though, not around the two of them.

A moment later, Kyubey was trotting into the living room and Mami was carrying a basket full of grief cubes in one hand and two envelopes in the other. _I am glad you two are in the same place for once!_ Kyubey hopped up onto the table. _It saves me the trouble of having to find you to give you your letter, Kyoko. Apparently there's a third magical girl in the city._

"Oh good gravy. Since when do you play errand boy?" Kyoko asked, arching an eyebrow.

_Since people decide to catapult me, apparently._

"She did _what_?" Mami exclaimed, head shooting up from the two envelopes.

_Homura Akemi is... strange._ Kyubey's tail lashed. _But an effective fighter. Also very fast and skilled at building things. She's also an anomaly._

"A what now?" Kyoko asked.

_She never made a contract with me._ Kyubey shook his head. _It's the strangest thing. She's a magical girl so it should have happened at some point but I have no recollection of the incident._ He cocked his head at Mami, his tail twitching again. _Perhaps some of it is explained in her letters. I doubt it, though._

"She did send grief cubes, so I'm willing to hear her out." Kyoko came over to where Mami was. "Can I have a look?"

"I don't know this woman, so I don't mind..." Mami carefully opened the letter that was labeled with her full name, and Kyoko scowled at the one on the table that was labeled with _her_ full name. How did this Homura Akemi even get them anyways, had Kyubey told her? She turned back to the letter that Mami had unfolded.

_Mami Tomoe,_

_I trust this letter reaches you in good health. If not, well, I did send some grief cubes from my last haul your way, given I fought wraiths in your territory._

_I have sent a map of the Mitakihara and Kasamino districts- yours and Kyoko Sakura's respective territories. There is a space between them that isn't well defined, so I defined it as mine._

"That's hella small," Kyoko muttered, she didn't even need the map.

"Swearing," Mami murmured back, obviously still distracted by what she was reading. 

_I hope that is acceptable, because I wish to remain with the boundaries of the city, and have no wish to be vying for territory with either of you. If I believe you need help in your area, I will come to assist, and my price is half of the grief cubes from the haul. That can be negotiated on the spot but I hope it will not have to be._

_May Madoka light your path._

_Homura Akemi_

Both of them stared at the letter. "Lemme see the map to make sure I'm right about what she's on about?" Kyoko asked, and Mami slid it out from under the words. Sure enough, there was Mami's huge section highlighted in yellow, hers highlighted in red, and a purple section that was far smaller than both of them smack in the middle. "She's crazy."

"Does your letter say basically the same thing?" Mami asked. "Or does she want to give you the same deal?"

Kyoko tore open her letter. Read it quickly. "Same deal. Same sign-off too. Who on earth is Madoka?"

Mami shrugged, and they looked at each other. "...She seems to want to coexist in peace," the older girl remarked, folding up her letter. "Based on territory. Do you think- we could fight together? You and me? Just like old times?"

Kyoko studied her for a moment, then sighed, and gave a nod. "Yeah. Yeah I think we can. Just don't go dying on me."

Mami gave a small smile that was more sadness than hope. A waterfall with only the glimmer of a rainbow on the surface. "You know that's what I'm good at, Kyoko."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kyubey, sitting in a catapult: Homura, can we talk through this rationally? 
> 
> Homura: This is rational. I catapult you towards Mami's, you don't have to carry that basket all the way there. Unless you'd rather carry it all the way there.
> 
> Kyubey: That would take too long. It is just very likely the contact with the concrete upon impact will make me... go splat.
> 
> Homura: And? Explosions can't kill you, I doubt gravity can.
> 
> Kyubey:
> 
> Homura:
> 
> Kyubey: How do you know explosions can't-
> 
> Homura: yEET


	2. We've Always Been Awkward (There Is No Always)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyoko starts going to school with Mami. She finds a magical girl in her class.

"I wasn't expecting you to be in this class."

"Given you apparently already know so much about me, you probably weren't expecting me to go to school either."

The girls around them fell silent immediately, glancing between the girl with cold blue eyes and ribbons in her black hair and Kyoko herself as they stared at each other. One look from the stranger was all it took for all of those girls to instantly back off. "Would you come up with me to the roof, Kyoko Sakura?" she asked Kyoko, tilting her head. "I think we have a few things to discuss."

"Oh we most certainly do," Kyoko muttered, getting out of her seat and glancing down at the silver ring on the girl's right hand again. "I'm guessin' you're Homura Akemi?" The other girl nodded. "I'm callin' you Homura."

"That's fine. Would you prefer to be called Kyoko?"

"Yup." They started walking down the hall, side by side, ignoring the stares of their classmates. "Mami probably wants to talk to you too. We didn't know you go to her school..." Kyoko bit her lip. "Our school now, I guess. Did you know Sayaka?"

"I knew Sayaka Miki, yes," Homura replied, her tone cool and unaffected. There was only a small blink, a slight downturning of her lips, a slight stiffening to her shoulders. Things anyone would miss if they were not watching. It was a good thing that Kyoko was. "She and I did not get along. I was still sorry to hear of her passing."

"Mami said she was hard not to like, but in my experience, it was hard to make her like _you_." Homura here didn't seem like the type to try too hard to make _anyone_ like her, much less someone as hardheaded as Sayaka. She had the air of a veteran magical girl about her, one who had stared down the void of their own despair and then spit in its face like Kyoko had. Probably in a more graceful fashion, though, given the way that she seemed to glide rather than walk. "So am I callin' Mami to the roof or not?"

"You may if you wish." Homura looked down at her fingernails. "But we are all going to be in the same school for the foreseeable future. I don't believe there's any rush."

"Fair nuff..." Kyoko laced her fingers behind her head as they got up to the roof. She still sent off _Hey, uh, Mami? I found Akemi._

 _You did?_ the shock was clear in the other girl's voice. _She goes to our school?_

_She was in Sayaka's class which means she's in mine._

_Well, that might explain how she knows me..._

_She doesn't seem all that eager to meet you. I kinda want to get a read on her myself today, so maybe we can have another meeting up tomorrow?_

There was a sound of assent, and the connection cut off. "Still," Kyoko continued, sitting down on the raised bricks that were just conveniently there as decoration. "Maybe tomorrow? We all do share similar territory boundaries and things would be easier to coordinate if we all know what the other two are doing."

"It would be." Homura eyed the bricks, her shoulders bunching up again as she also sat down. "I actually would like to know where you live. It would make grief cube delivery a lot more convenient."

"Yeah I'd hecking _imagine._ " Kyoko shook her head. "The fact that a basket just showed up a coupla times behind me while I was dancing kinda freaked me out, you know?" Sure, she was distracted while playing her favorite game, but jeez, she was never so distracted that she just let people approach her. The barest tinge of a smile flickered around Homura's lips, there and gone in a moment. Again, Kyoko thought, it was a good thing that she was watching closely. "You obviously know where Mami lives since cubes have showed up there too. We've been staying together."

"You have?" Homura blinked slowly. "Is your territory still the Kasamino district?"

"That is where I patrol, yeah." Kyoko shrugged. "Mami insisted, though, and it ain't much of a hassle to get there from her place if you take the bus. It's less've a hassle than the hotel."

"Mm." Homura nodded. "I understand. I'll drop off the grief cubes there from here on out."

_How is it going?_ Mami asked.

_She asked where I live for grief cube purposes, I'm about to ask her about the boundaries._ "So, do you still want that sliver of territory, or-"

"It will suffice for me," Homura interrupted. Her tone hadn't changed at all throughout the conversation, and it was freaking a part of Kyoko out. Most people's voices fluctuated at least a little when they were talking, this girl's just... didn't. "You both have been magical girls longer than I have and have rights to your territory claims. Besides, I'm looking into other areas." 

Kyoko pressed her lips together. Wraiths dropped grief cubes, but not that much, and that area didn't exactly have a lot of hot spots. She wondered when she started... oh yeah, _Sayaka_ was when she started caring about how other magical girls were doing again. Started caring about their soul gem care. _Yeah, she's still satisfied with her tiny territory apparently._ "Those areas better be good."

_Perhaps she simply doesn't wish to intrude? I think we should get to know her better before insisting._

"I think they will be." Something distant entered the other girl's gaze, and she lifted her hand to fiddle with the end of one of her ribbons. "She told me about old demons... they drop more cubes. More dangerous prey, but I can be a precision fighter. Honestly, the ones I have been fighting are beginning to bore me."

"She?" Kyoko asked, quickly relaying _Ey she's talking about something called old demons,_ to Mami.

Homura's lips pressed together, hard, her fingers pinching on the ribbon, and Kyoko tensed along with her. "Madoka," she replied tersely, and it was the first time that her tone had changed the entire conversation. She stood, abruptly. "You probably want to eat. I am grateful for the conversation."

"Oy, we can eat together..." the girl was already walking away, towards the interior of the building, and with that reaction, Kyoko... didn't want to push. Homura was too hard to read, too _odd,_ and that reaction meant that more walls were definitely going up. She wouldn't get anywhere like this.

_What did you just say?_

 _Were you watching?_ Kyoko asked, blinking. Another surprise.

_I followed your signature,_ Mami replied apologetically. _I was... curious. And would like to recognize our partner should I run into her, not to mention know her own signature._

 _Fair, it's not like she's much respected_ our _privacy._ Kyoko huffed a sigh, getting out her lunchbox and beginning to devour the contents. _I didn't say anything rude. Just pried somewhere sensitive. Apparently Madoka told her about old demons._

 _Madoka, hm...?_ Mami seemed to consider this. _Well, I'll talk to her tomorrow, and try not to bring up the subject of that name. I'm sure that Kyubey can tell us about old demons too, and I would like more coordination between the three of us, we could rescue more people that way._

Rescue more people, get more grief cubes. It was one and the same. Kyoko was honestly beginning to wonder why she'd split from Mami in the first place, but she didn't want her head to go down that road. _Whatever you say, boss._ She bit into her apple, thinking of those red ribbons and Homura Akemi's almost dead blue eyes instead of the other thoughts that were trying to intrude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That other end note is not supposed to be there. *sighs* Guess I wouldn't mind if it showed up throughout the entire fic. :P I hope you all are enjoying the story!


	3. Turf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> School's out for the summer and Homura is acting stranger than usual.

"We never talk to her on her own turf."

Mami tilted her head with her best _I do not understand yet don't want to ask outright_ Look on her face, and Kyoko sighed, wondering how to go about explaining this. She'd never been good at metaphors. "I mean... where she's comfortable. Homura always comes to us. She never lets us go to her, which is weird to me. Cuz normally you'd want to talk to someone on your turf, not their's. You know the area better than they do. You know which ground to stand on, and they don't, so if it comes down to a fight, you're more likely to come out on top."

"Do you think she cares about that?" Mami asked, her confusion gone while she stirred her tea thoughtfully. "Location, I mean. She's seemed confident enough in all of our conversations if... terribly distant."

"That's one way to describe her." Distant. A million miles away from either of them and everyone else around her. Now that Kyoko really thought about it... yeah, no, location didn't matter to Homura. If someplace wasn't her turf, she forced the situation that got her into that place to work with her. She made everywhere her turf except for Mami's home. Her shoulders had done the bunchy thing the first time that she had come over here and she had only picked up her tea when Kyoko had commented on it going cold. The resulting gurgle from the dark-haired girl's stomach had made her mouth bunch up too, and though she finished the cup of tea, she hadn't touched the cake. Kyoko had wound up eating her cake that first time, and all the times after too.

Honestly, that was one of the more disturbing things about Homura Akemi. Kyoko had straight-up never seen her eat, and they'd known each other for nearly three weeks now. She'd only seen her drink things when she came over here and every time, without fail, she looked like she was on the wrong turf. Not her turf, like everywhere else seemed to be, even if she got along with Mami just fine. 

"I wasn't commenting on her general demeanor, either, Kyoko." Mami set her tea down, golden eyes filled with what was very much concern. "When I asked if you'd seen her lately, it's because she's been acting even stranger since school got out. I've only seen her a couple of times when our paths crossed on wraith hunts, and she usually at least stops to say hello, but she didn't even when our eyes met. Just... flew off with those wings of hers." Because of course Homura had wings during battles, something that also made Kyoko feel sick for some unfathomable reason. "Also, today's Wednesday."

"...Oh sh-" Mami glared. "-nikes, you're right. She's not here." Kyoko silently cursed her absolutely deplorable ability to keep track of time with all the words Mami wouldn't let her say. Homura had never missed a strategy meeting before, but it was half-an-hour past time and there was a distinct lack of the odd girl. There was silence for a moment. "She doesn't lose track of time."

"No. She doesn't." There was silence for a moment, and then Mami took out her soul gem, taking a deep breath, and Kyoko braced herself for what was definitely going to be a hard summer day. "Where, she knows where both of us live and we know she doesn't have a cell phone. Time to figure out where she lives."

-

As everything seemed to be as a magical girl, finding Homura's apartment was easier said than done. There was a lot of walking and a lot of going through crowds before they even managed to pick up an inkling of a signal. "It's like she's figured out a way to mask her soul gem's aura," Mami muttered. "I don't know _how_ or _why_ you would want to do that, but-"

"It's Homura, everything goes out the window," Kyoko huffed. But Mami's yellow gem glowed brighter and brighter as they approached a... nice, but fairly average apartment complex. "Huh."

"This seems to be the place." Mami closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked straight up at the building. _Akemi-san? Are you home?_

There was a pause, but a connection was there and it was solid between the three of them. _Why are you here?_ came the response after that long pause, Homura's voice... toneless. Deader than usual. Kyoko swallowed. _Is there an issue with wraiths?_

 _No, no. You just didn't come to our meeting,_ Mami's voice was all soft cajoling and caution now that they'd gotten that very warm response. _It's Wednesday._

... _Right, that was today._ Something snapped along the connection, a shiver as Homura's tone grew more distant. _My apologies. The days are beginning to blur together._

_Understandable, I forgot today was Wednesday too. But, y_ _o, are you okay?_ Kyoko asked. 

The question got another shiver of a reaction, and Mami gave Kyoko another one of her Looks. Her very best _you should really try being more subtle_ Look. Subtlety wasn't going to get them anywhere, though, and- _I am fine,_ Homura replied, her tone suddenly back to it's businesslike, clipped normalcy, any trace of shivering gone. _There's been a car accident on 66th main._

_Ah!_ Mami transformed without hesitation and Kyoko followed suit. _We'll head there now._

_I'll meet you there, I'll take north on the triangle._

 _I'll be west side,_ Kyoko replied as she and Mami used chains and ribbons respectively to hurl themselves up onto the rooftops.

_That gives me east,_ Mami agreed, her tone all business too now that lives were on the line. _We'll crush any possible wraiths before they have the slightest chance of making the situation worse._

The connection cut off, but Kyoko could feel Homura's energy blipping in and out, and she saw a flash of those white wings ahead of them when the energy abruptly passed them. Kyubey hopped onto Mami's shoulder. "There wraiths?" Kyoko called to the furball.

_They're already gathering, yes!_ Kyubey replied. _But you are moving quickly enough that you should be able to head them off._

"Good to hear," Mami replied, steel in her golden eyes. "No one else needs to die if we can save them."

-

No one was destroyed by a wraith, but the sky rained grief cubes that day. 

They each took a rooftop above the highway and the wraiths came to them- Kyubey had explained once that magical girls were their favored prey even though humans were easier for them to grab and eat. Mami and Kyoko both caught them in ribbons and barriers and Homura's fun roulette wheel of guns had landed on grenade launcher today. 

She didn't even have to use her pretty wooden bow to do real damage, and Kyoko appreciated the forceful explosions tearing the wraiths to shreds as Mami's ribbons caught all of the grief cubes. Occasionally she'd sink a hook into one and tear it apart, and Mami would get a couple of stragglers, but the grenades did most of the work.

They all congregated on Mami's rooftop afterwards to split the grief cubes into thirds, as they did whenever Homura joined them, cleansing their soul gems together. "Good work today, girls." Mami beamed at both of them. "I'm glad to see you out and about again, Akemi-san."

"You have seen me on wraith hunts recently, Tomoe-san," Homura replied coolly as she tossed a grief cube to Kyubey and the critter leaned to reach it with the hatch on his back. 

"Yes, well it's just not as often as it has been, and it's _only_ during wraith hunts," Mami replied. "I've just been getting a bit concerned is all..."

Homura's mouth wasn't quite doing the bunchy thing, but her lips were slightly pressed together. "So you live in that apartment complex?" Kyoko asked, changing tactics. Homura tilted her head towards her, nodding. "You mind if I crash in occasionally?"

Homura blinked, and the pressed line vanished. Contemplation and surprise, Kyoko was pretty sure. That was an occasional one that had come up, and Kyoko still had no idea what things caused it while others left the dark-haired girl completely unfazed. "I... would not mind, no," she replied after a long moment. "But why?"

"I live with Mami but we're different enough that we still get on each other's nerves, y'know?" Kyoko asked. "Don't want to break apart over something stupid because we both need space but don't have it."

Mami flushed slightly, but she nodded. It was a legit problem as well as an excuse to get closer to Homura, and they both knew it. "Our tastes are..."

"Quite different." Homura's head was tilted to the side, red ribbons listing slightly to the side. "I see. That makes sense." She glanced to Kyoko. "As long as it's not... often. I'm not accustomed to housing others."

Kyoko nodded. "Yeah, no, I gotcha. Won't be all that often. Just when Mami and I can't really stand each other anymore or think we might be getting to that point. Then you don't have to deal with us like that."

Homura nodded, lips pressing slightly together again, but Kyoko assumed it was at the memory of the couple of times during May that she'd gone and skipped duties and school alike because she and Mami had gotten into a fight. She'd come back after a couple of days each time because she wasn't a jerk anymore and Mami had tearfully apologized, and it was fine. But she would rather not repeat that and having a place to go would help. Homura tossed more grief cubes to Kyubey. "If that's all..."

"...Yeah. Yeah, that's all," Kyoko agreed. They'd pushed her enough, and she couldn't read the other girl's mood.

"Thank you for your help, as always, Akemi-san." Mami nodded, and the other girl gave a graceful nod of her own before vanishing- as she did.

"A whole month working together and we're still awkward," Kyoko muttered.

"Hopefully your idea helps that just a little," Mami replied softly, and Kyubey just shook himself out. "The closer we can manage to get to her, the less awkward I think we'll become." She gave Kyoko a bit of a wry smile. "Living together may have driven us crazy at times, but at least we know each other a lot better."

Kyoko snorted in response, sticking a Pocky stick in her mouth and tossing her own dirtied grief cubes to Kyubey. She couldn't say that Mami was wrong. She wondered if Homura's apartment was more her turf than anywhere else.


End file.
